What the Mumbai Police couldn’t do, the CBI has done. Former media baron Peter Mukerjea was arrested in the Sheena Bora murder case on Thursday evening.

Sheena is the daughter of Peter’s wife Indrani Mukerjea, who is already in jail for allegedly murdering her own child. Peter Mukerjea will be produced in a Mumbai court today.

The Mumbai Police, who were initially probing the Sheena Bora murder case, had interrogated Peter at length. Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria had personally questioned Peter at the Santacruz police station. The case was transferred to the CBI on September 19.

Peter Mukerjea (centre) is said to have arranged the car which was used in the murder of Sheena Bora

A police officer had told Mail Today at that time that Peter’s alleged role in the case will be decided when the charge sheet is filed.

Sheena Bora, 24, who was allegedly strangled in April 2012, was the unacknowledged daughter of Indrani Mukerjea. In public, she was introduced as Indrani's sister. She was also engaged to Rahul Mukerjea, Peter Mukerjea's son from an earlier marriage, a relationship that Indrani reportedly disapproved of.

The murder remained undiscovered for three years, during which time Indrani allegedly told friends and family that Sheena had left for the US. This August, Sheena's remains were found in a forest near Raigad, around 80 km from Mumbai.

On Thursday, CBI spokesperson Devpreet said Peter's role became clear during the probe and hence he has been arrested. She refused to divulge further details, but sources in the probe agency said he had held back vital information in the case from the Mumbai police.

Peter is said to have arranged the car which was used in the murder. Besides this, his garage was allegedly used to hide Sheena’s body before it was disposed of. More importantly, his son Rahul had told him that Sheena’s passport was with him and there was no way she could have gone to the US as was claimed by Indrani, but Peter allegedly paid no heed to that.

Sources said there were indications that Peter had played an important role in the mystery.

A top CBI official told Mail Today: “The arrest has been made as per requirement of the investigation. His custodial interrogation was required.”

Usually in a murder case all accused are booked under section 302, which is read with other sections as per the role played by the accused. Mukherjea’s lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani, however, said Peter has been arrested under Section 201, which pertains to destruction of evidence.

He also expressed shock at the arrest, but insisted he has nothing to say against the CBI.

He said that when he last contacted Peter on Thursday, he was being quizzed by the CBI sleuths. Sources said the decision to arrest Peter was taken in view of alleged inconsistencies in his statement before the CBI.

The arrest came on a day when the CBI filed its charge-sheet in a Mumbai court in the Sheena Bora murder case. The charge-sheet was filed three months after Sheena 's remains were found in a forest near Mumbai.

Running into more than 1,000 pages and containing statements of 150 witnesses, 200 documents and seven statements recorded before the magistrate, it was submitted before magistrate RV Adone at the Esplanade court in south Mumbai.

It names Indrani, her former husband Sanjeev Khanna, and driver Shyamvar Rai as accused. All three were arrested in August this year. The agency has charged them with criminal conspiracy to kidnap, murder, cheat and destroy evidence, forgery and use of forged documents, besides violation of provisions of the Information Technology Act.

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Last week, the magistrate's court recorded the confession of Shyamvar Rai under section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which, unlike a police statement, is admissible as evidence in the court, a CBI official said.

Rai had written to the court that he wanted to reveal the truth about the case. According to the Mumbai police, which initially probed the case, Sheena was strangled inside a car and her body was burnt before being dumped in the forest. The police earlier had to take the help of forensic experts to confirm that the remains found in Raigad forest were that of Sheena.

The fresh forensic tests carried out by the CBI have reaffirmed the earlier findings. Ever since the probe into the case began, there have been dramatic twists and turns, not least Indrani’s hospitalisation after she suddenly collapsed inside Byculla prison.

The case also generated much political heat with the opposition attacking the BJP-led government in the state for the abrupt transfer of then police commissioner Rakesh Maria in September in the midst of the probe.